Forfeit ~Shane Walsh/OC~

Chapter Four

            I woke up alone the next morning. It honestly terrified me so I rushed up and slipped on some pants and boots. I almost fell out of the tent but no one noticed. Most of them were surrounding the dozens of fish Andrea and Amy caught this morning.

            “Can you teach me how to do that?” I heard Carl ask the girls.

            “Sure! I’ll teach you all about nail knots and stuff!” Amy said with excitement. “If it’s okay,” she asked Lori.

            “You won’t catch me arguing,” Lori said with a smile. I stepped over to Carl and ruffled his hair but he pushed my hand away and looked at me with a smile. He hated when I did that but it kept him young to me.

            “I, uh… Don’t wanna alarm anyone, but we may have a bit of a problem,” Dale approached us with a serious look. I finally saw Shane as he quickly marched over to us and wrapped his arm around my waste. Dale just pointed up the hill where we all saw Jim with a shovel.

            “What’s he doing up there?” I asked the group.

            “I wish I could tell you,” Dale shrugged. “All he told me was he was digging.”

            “Well, that’s weird. Why?” I asked again, holding my hand up to my face to shield my eyes from the hot Sun.

            “He wouldn’t say.”

            “I guess he’s not hurting anything,” Andrea said turning away from the hill to face Shane and me.

            “It’s insanely hot today,” I told her. “He could really hurt himself.” I looked to Shane to make a decision. His eyes met mine and he tightened his grip on my waste before letting me go completely.

            “Alright,” he sighed. “Let’s go.”

*****

            “Hey, Jim,” Shane said with his hands in his pockets. “Why don’t you hold up, alright? Just give me a second, here. Please.

            “What do you want?” Jim snapped sticking the shovel in the ground.

            “We’re all just a little concerned, man. That’s all.” Shane showed Jim his hands and kept a calm demeanor.

            “Dale says you’ve been out here for hours,” Morales added.

            “So?” Jim shrugged.

            “So, why are you digging?” Shane asked with his hands resting on his hips. “Are you heading to China?” he laughed after he joked.

            “What does it matter? I’m not hurting anyone,” Jim stayed serious.

            “Except maybe yourself,” I chimed in behind Shane. “It’s 100 degrees today. You can’t keep this up.”

            “Oh, sure I can. Watch me,” Jim spoke with determination.

            “Jim, they won’t say it so I will,” Lori stepped up beside me and I tensed up but she didn’t notice. “You’re scarring people. You’re scarring my son and Carol’s daughter.” Her arms stayed crossed.

            “They got nothing to be scarred of,” Jim said with a small smile. “I mean what the hell. I’m out here by myself. Why don’t you all just go and leave me the hell alone?” Jim was getting defensive. Shane turned and looked at me and our eyes met. I was nibbling on my finger nails and I’m sure Shane thought it was Jim making me nervous but it was the fact that Lori was right beside me that was freaking me out.